An Okie teacher banished to the Midwest.
"Education is not the filling a bucket but the lighting of a fire."-- William Butler Yeats

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Keeping body and soul together at Thanksgiving

Like so many others, we’re getting ready to uncircle the SUVs and head off to my parents’ for Thanksgiving. The warmth. The fellowship. The football. The lapsing into my native accent. The fun of trying to entertain three kids strapped into hard plastic car seats until the blood pools in their buttocks but who remain nonetheless within pinching, shoving and poking range. Through bitter experience, I can confide that the only thing that drowns out the sound of “Maaa—aaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!”s while one is trying to hurtle down the highway, by the way, is the Clash. How apropos.

But one tradition will be missing this year. No Taco Tico!

Bertie Wooster had the lure of the peerless Anatole’s Supreme de Foie Gras au Champagne or Niege aux Perles des Alpes to keep luring him back into Aunt Agatha’s clutches. We had Taco Tico, a delightful fast food joint guaranteed to stop the braying of the emptiest stomach after a wearying journey. It was tasty, it was cheap, and it was open Thanksgiving Day. Perfect.

See, every year, we are told that dinner will be at 3, and every year we know that that’s just a pile of giblets. Time and schedules have a mythic, hazy quality in my mother’s universe, particularly with my dad around, who merely knows that the kitchen is where the coffee pot is. How many times as a child was I incredibly late somewhere until I learned to tell my mom the appointment was an hour earlier? The first Thanksgiving we traveled back to the old homestead from our new city, I tried to warn my then-fiance to join me in partaking of the tangy, greasy goodness of a double beef enchilada with extra sauce, but he was sure I was foolishly taking up prime space reserved for turkey and nobly refused. Three hours later, he was ready to gnaw the cabinetry around my parents’ tv while the turkey was still tartare. Next year we were not so adverse to a little caloric insurance before presenting ourselves at the doorway of the parental manse, now were we, honey?

And thus every year. But no more. Taco Tico has closed up shop to the gnashing of teeth of this side of the clan Cornelius. Hasta la vista, Taco Tico. We knew ye well. You shall be long lamented. I have no idea what we will do now.

What's On the Bookshelf? (And stacked on the floor, and in the loo, and next to my bed, and in my backpack....)

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

The Stripping of the Altars, by Eamonn Duffy

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling

Wishful Drinking, by Carrie Fisher

The Big Over Easy, by Jasper Fforde

Columbine, by Dave Cullen

The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins

Here, Bullet, by Brian Turner

Random Thoughts

"Read-ity read read read."-- The Ramblin' Educat

"Personally, I think for democracy to exist, opposition is key. History seems to bear that out. One sign you're doing a good job is when the only argument the extablishment can muster is "shut up" and variations on that theme.-- NYC Educator

"The only thing worse than having no taste is having no shame."-- via Mamacita

"The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse is because you cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal, Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery & Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment."-- Molly Ivins (via Mike in Texas!)

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."-- Dean Wormer, Animal House

"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts."-- John Steinbeck